Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How To Turn Your Child Onto Museums, Guaranteed

I have devised a foolproof strategy on going to museums with children that I absolutely have to share with you. It will revolutionize your vacations, and I'm not kidding.

Just to recap, I have a seven year old boy whose passions run more to aliens and baseball than to medieval portraits or decorative art. No surprise there.

But Luca and I went to five museums in London, and aside from a slight miscalculation in the Textile Study Room at the V&A Museum (read my last post), he had the time of his life, as he will be the first to tell you.

How did I manage to pull off such a feat? Easy.

1. The moment you step foot inside a museum, head directly to the gift shop. If your child is normal, they will instantly start grabbing toys. Don't panic. Let them choose one or two. Tell them these will be their "prize."

2. Next, steer them to the postcard section. Let them pick out a bunch of postcards which feature artworks in the museum.

3. Hand your child his stack and announce that "the TREASURE HUNT begins now!" They must locate the work of art represented on the postcard and once they do, they can turn the card over to you. When the stack is gone, they have officially earned the prize they picked out earlier.

If they are old enough to read a museum map, all the better. Otherwise, the guards stationed in each gallery are more than happy to help with directions.

Important note: If there are some rooms/artworks that you specifically want to see, be sure to buy some postcards of your own and 'sneak' them into his pile.

I can't tell you how many stressed-out parents we passed trying to interest their sullen, foot-dragging children in the glories of [insert art history period here]. I wanted to grab them by the shoulders and say, "Look! Postcards! Treasure hunt! It works! We've been here for an hour and he's still smiling!"

Here are some of the postcards I now have from our various treasure hunts:

And here are two of the prizes Luca earned:

If anyone had told me that my son would be grabbing my elbow and shouting, "Mom! We need to find the Elizabethan Portrait Room!" I would have told them they seriously needed to 'up' their medication.

Lisa - this is great advice. We went to our local museum over spring break and I find "we" do much better (me and my three boys) if I let them lead and don't try to teach too much. Fortunately, our museum provides a packet of cards for just such a treasure hunt - for free! I like the idea of go to the gift shop first and pick the prize. That's a good one.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am excited to try your advice on our next museum visit. I am sending a link to a friend who is taking her twin 6 year old boys to Europe in May. I am sure she will be grateful for your suggestions.

What a fantastic strategy that ensures a great time for both parents & children. I am going to try this the next time I visit a museum with my 11 year old son. One of the most useful parenting tips I have heard in a long, long time!

Scavenger hunts, egg hunts, art escapades, safaris are all part of keeping one excited from age 1 to 92.This sort of reminds of "Cracker Jacks" - or "Bazooka" and the little trinkets or cartoons inside. Keeping it fun is what it's all about.

Lisa -- I love this. Hunts of all kinds (like looking for something specific within a painting) are popular in the education departments at so many museums. At the High we had a map just for kids. Anyway, love that you do this on your own. Brilliant.